Balberith's Raiders

by Sick Boy

Balberith was one of the warriors of greatest reknown aboard the Black Ark "Sting of Khaine", having participated and ultimately led several successful raiding incursions in various parts of the World, time and time again acumulating victories against all odds and adversaries.
From the Witch King himself he received personal praise for his success in retrieving a series of Druchii sacred artifacts from High Elf hands in a particularly difficult and bloody mission. For which he was also rewarded with possession of the magical whip "The Tongue of Talon".
Poised for greatness was Balberith...

If the ascent to power is bound to cause spite and anger on those that are preterite in favour of the chosen, an ascent as quick as that of Barbelith is bound to cause even more venomous spite. Especialy from individuals whose path to power risks being obstructed or terminated by a young and talented upstart.
One such individual was Lord Malkus of Har-Ganeth, commander of the Blak Ark "Sting of Khaine", to whom Balberith was second only in rank, and for whom Balberith's quick ascension meant the eventual loss of his high-ranking position as lord commander of the Black Ark "Sting of Khaine".
After Balberith's return from one of his final campaigns aboard the "Sting fo Khaine", insidious rumours started spreading concerning his loyalties and true allegiances.
The fall of Balberith began...

Striped of his honours and rank in the Dark Elf navy, Balberith would surely have been executed for treason, if it wasn't for a totaly unexpected intervention from the part of the Witch King himself. For reasons known only to himself, the Witch King decided to spare Balberith and his band of raiders from the executiorner's axe. Instead, they were given a Reaver light vessel and were declared outcasts, exiled from the lands of Naggaroth, never to return again unless directly requested by the Witch King himself.
Mayhaps as a token of appreciation for past services, or for some other reason, the Witch King allowed Balberith to keep the magical whip that he was rewarded years before.
And so it began the legend of Balberith and his Raiders...

Corsairs or mercenaries for hire, their prowess on the battlefield earned them a reputation for unsurpassed efficiency and competence so much that this small army is in frequent demand for raiding missions in which a combination of stealth, speed and strength are of essence.

Balberith- Dark Elf hero, commander of Balberith's Raiders.

Stats: as a Dark Elf hero.

Equipment: Cold One, heavy armour, lance and sword.

Special rules: Balberith's Cold One was taken care of, tamed and trained by Balberith since the moment that it was born forming a deep bond between the two. When testing for the cold one's stupidity, Balberith's leadership counts as having an unmodified value of 10.

Magic objects:

Tongue of Talon (60 Pts.) Magic Weapon. Dark Elves only. Cannot carry a shield but may carry a hand weapon in adition to this one. The Tongue of Talon is a whip fashioned with the tongue of the daemon Talon. In combat, if the Tongue of Talon hits, it ensnares its target, so that it has a -2 to-hit modifier while ensnared. Furthermore, the whip is spiked and it contracts to squeeze the life out of its prey, burying the spikes further into the victim's flesh, as such, it causes an automatic S4 hit on the target in every round. At the beginning of every round of close combat, the victim may try to release itself from the whip's grip, by rolling equal or less than the victim's strength on a D6.
The use of the Tongue of Talon does not stop the use of an aditional hand weapon, but precludes the use of a shield. This should be particularly obvious since once it has ensnared a target, it cannot be used to attack any more. As such, after gripping someone with the Tongue of Talon, all of the bearer's attacks cease to count as magical (except the auto-hit inflicted by the whip).

The Raiders

Raiding party composition: 10 Black Ark Corsairs (with champion), 5 Dark Riders (with champion), 10 Scouts.

Stats: same as normal Black Ark Corsairs, Dark Riders and Scouts.

Equipment: The Black Ark Corsairs are equiped with Sea Dragon Cloaks and extra hand weapons. The Dark Raiders are equiped with Dark Steeds, light armour, spears and repeating crossbows. The Scouts are equiped with light armour and repeating crossbows. Champions are equiped as the unit they are in.

Special rules: all the general and special rules concerning Dark Elves and Dark Elves special troop types apply. In adition, the Corsairs may skirmish. This unit tests for Ld on Balberith's Ld, he is their commander and it is to him that they look up to for guidance. As such, raider units within 12" of him test under his Ld. They will not test under the general of the army that hired them not even if it is a Dark Elf army (unless the general of the Dark Elf army that hired them is Morathi or the Witch King himself).

Point cost: Balberith costs 180 points. Balberith and the Raiders cost 660 points and are a fixed size war party, you can't field more nor less than the elements described above. Balberith may be fielded alone but if the Raiders are hired, Balberith must be hired as well since he is their commander.

Balberith alone may be hired by: Undead, Orcs&Goblins, Dark Elves, Dogs of War, Chaos Dwarves, Chaos, Empire (but only if there are no High Elf or Wood Elf allies present).
Balberith's Raiders may be hired by: Undead, Orcs&Goblins, Dark Elves, Dogs of War, Chaos Dwarves, Chaos.